Automobile-wheel.



L. C. SCHWAB.

AUTOMOBILE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 24. I914.

Patented May 29, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SIIEH' I.

Inventor Leon 6'. 5072100 w L. C. SCHWAB.

AUTOMOBILE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 24. NH.

Patented May 29, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

ZQUf/h/esses: I I lhvgn/goz I b I 6072/ a Law MXM j g i L. c. SCHWAB.

AUTOMOBILE WHEEL.

RPPLIQATION FILED FEB-24.19.

Patented May 29, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

6170 rn/egs UNITED STATES'PATENT OFFICE.

LEON G. SCHWAIB, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO A. 0. SMITHCOMPANY, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

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Patented May 29, 191 '7.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, LEON G. SOHWAB, a citizen of the United States, residing at Milwaukee in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomobileWheels, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to automobile wheels and, more specifically, to sheet metal wheels, preferably pressed or stamped from sheet steel.

In a general way, the automobile wheels of my invention are formed of an inner half andan outer half, each of the halves being stamped and pressed from a single sheet of steel and each half or member comprisingla hub section, spoke sections, and a felly section. Each half or member is suitably dished so that the two halves when brought into register willform hollow spokes joined to a more or less hollow felly and a more or less hollow hub section. Each half or member is provided with a laterally extended flange integral with the hub, spoke and felly sections and lying in substantially the median plane through the spokes o the wheel. The flanges of the two halves or members register with one another, whereby the flanges may be. joined in order to fasten the tWo halves of the wheel together. These flanges, however, serve not only to join the two halves of the wheel, but also to provide such a d'stribution of metal as will give great strength to the completed wheel, nothwithstanding the fact that its members are stamped and pressed from comparatively light stock. The hub sec tions of the two wheel members are preferably se arated b a suitable spacer, which i may be ormed 0 sheet metal or of wood,

or other suitable material in the manner hereinafter described in detail.

The objects of my invention, which Wlll hereinafter more fully appear, are to provide automobile wheels of great strength, light weight, low costof manufacture, and pleasing appearance.

' My invention Wlll be; more clearly understoodbyrefer'ence to the accompanying drawings, 1n which- Figure l is a side elevation of a wheel constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view on in enlarged scale taken on line 22 of Fig. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of one of the spokes taken on line 33 of Fig. 1 and illustrated on an enlarged scale;

Fig. 4 is a artial cross-sectional view on line 4-4 of ig. 1, showing a pneumatic tire in place upon the wheel;

Fig. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 1, illustrating the form of the felly;

Fig. 6 is a view showing the telly filler partly in elevation and partly in cross-sect1on;

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of'Fig. 2 but showing a modified form of hub filler; and

Fig. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view similar to that of Fig. 4, but showing a modified form of felly construction.

Referring first to the. preferred form of my invention, I have illustrated an inner half wheel stamped and pressed from sheet steel and comprising a hub ortion 10, spoke portions 11, 11, and a f elly portion 12 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4). This inner member of the wheel, comprising hub, spoke and felly portions, is integral and formed, as stated, of a sin le sheet of metal. An outer halfwheel 0 substantially the same conformation is stamped and pressed from another sheet of metal and provided with a hub portion '13, spoke portions 14, 14, and a felly portion 15'. The hub, spoke and felly portions of the inner half wheel are prov ded j with flanges or webs 16, 16, lying substantially in the median plane through the spokes of the wheel, each of these flanges continuing uninterruptedly about each of.

member, as best illustrated 'in Figs. 2, 3-

and 5. The crim ed seams formed of these flanges 16 andjl hold the two half-wheel crimped or the half-wheel members.

members together, but they serve other important functions, subsequently to be described.

The hub portion of the two half wheels is shown in the drawings as clamped between a brake drum 18 and a hub 19, the bolts 20- serving to draw the parts together. In order to prevent the collapse of the hub portion of the wheel proper, I provide a hub filler 21, preferably formed of a strip of metal bent intoa serpentine form, com rising a series of Us. The two ends the strap from which this. serpentine hub filler is bent may be joined by brazing or welding or the abutting ends may be left open, as may be preferred. It will be noted that the outer convolutions of the serpentine hub filler pass around the clamping bolts 20, 20,

whereas the inner ends of the convolutions are held in place by the circular bosses 21, 21', formed in the hub portion of the inner half-wheel member and the circular bosses 22, 22 formed in the hub portion of the outer half-wheel member. These circular bosses are pressed in positions such that they will fall directly opposite one another and thus provide projections which will hold the inner convolutions of the hubfiller in place. The convolutions in the hub filler give it strength to prevent collapse of the hub due to the pressure exerted by the bolts 20, 20. Any desired form of hub cap is indicated at 23.

In .Fig. 7, I-have shown a modified constlllction in whichthe hub filler 24 is of hard wood. In this case, the bosses 21 and 22 may be omitted from the hub ortions of The circular collars25 and 26 surrounding the central opening are, however, retained to give a finish and a bearing in maintalning the position of the hub In Fig. 5, I have illustrated in partial cross-section the conformation of the felly portions of the two half-wheel members,

while in Fi 6 'I have illustrated a sheet metal felly ler, which preferably is in the form of a continuous ring. This felly filler comprises 'a tread 25', formed integrally with side flanges 26 and 27 which extend inside the fell portions 12 and 15 of the half-.

wheel mem are. It will be noted that the peripheries of the felly portions 12 and 15 are slightly inturned to register with suitable tflelpressions formed in the outer edges oi the .filler whereb the felly filler is gripped .wit in thd embrac e 'of'the felly portions of the half-wheel members. v

The inturned eriplheries of the felly portions of the ha f-w eel members, together with the tread 25' of the felly filler, provide a substantially cylindrical wheel face over which' the rim band as is slipped and held in place by means of the rim bolts 29, 29,

'tion in which the for the hub proper and to tire rim may be varied in conformity with present or future practice and in conformit also with the style. of pneumatic tire, as indlcated at 32. In Fig. 1, I have indicated the holes 33, 33, through which pass the rim bolts 29.

Fig. 8 illustrates a modified felly construcperipheries of the felly portions of the halfwheel members are turned in toward the hub of the wheel as.

indicated at 34, 34, thus 'ving strength and rigidity to the complet felly.

The wheel of my invention may be manufactured very cheaply by means of appropriate automatic mac inery. It has a pleasing and attractive appearance and by the use of comparativel t in sheet metal a light'construction is o tained. The dispositionof the metal is such, however that the wheel has very great strength. The spokes, particularly of the rear wheels of an automobile, must transmit a large torsional moment from the hub to the tire and it will be noted that the triple thick ribs formed of the flanges 16 and 17 being formed integrally with the more or less nearly tubular portions of the spokes, are both in shape and ositien such as to add greatly to the strengt of the spokes in so far as their ability to transmit t e torsional moments is concerned. To put the matter'in another way, the moment-of inertia of the section illustrated in Fig. 3, about the neutral axis A, A, is very largely increased by the flange 16 and the 'er-imped flange mem er 17.

Automobile wheels are subjected not only to torsional moments, which are transmitted through the splokes acting more or lessas fixed beams, ut the peripheries of the wheels are subjected to tremendous side pressures which must be transmitted to the axles. It will be noted in-Fig. 3 that the spokes are dished in such manner as to elon- ..gate the dimension perpendicular to the neutral axis B, B, whereby the; moment of inertia about this neutral axis is made substantially greater than would be. the case with a substantially circular cross-section, This increased dimension of thespokes in the direction otthe neutral axis A, A of Fig. 3 very materiall strengthens the spokes in so far as their abi ity to carry the stresses incident to side thrust is concerned. The

spoke form indicated'in Fig.3 has-not only great strength when regarded as a. fixed beam, butalso'when regarded as a column in carrying the weight upon the automobile axles. But this form, notwithstanding its strength, has an attractive and pleasing ap-' pearance. v

The bead formed of the flanges 16 and 17 of the; folly portions, as best illustrated in Fig. 5 gives reat strength and rigidity to the felly, arti cularly at the points substantially mi way between the several spokes where the wheel must carry a load tending to buckle the felly. The continuit of the spoke and felly beads adds material y to the strength of the connection between the spokes and the felly and aids materially in carryin and transmitting the necessary strains etween spokes and felly, andvice versa.

aiding the hub filler and the hub portions of the half-wheel members in transmitting side thrust to and from the axle to the periphery of the wheel. The conformation of the felly and felly filler when used as shown in Fig. 4 provide the necessary strength in the felly.

Now having described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A wheel of the class described; comprising in combination a pair of substantially symmetrical dished sheet metal members; each of said members comprising a fclly section, a hub section, and a plurality of spoke sections interposed between the hub and felly sections; a serpentine spacer interposed between the hub sections; and a plurality of bosses formed in one of the hub sections arranged to prevent displacement of the spacer.

2. A vehicle wheel comprising in combi' nation a pair of substantially symmetrical dished sheet metal members, each compris ing a felly section, a hub section and a plurality of spoke sections interposed between the hub and felly sections, the hub section,

spoke sections and felly section of each of said dished sheet metal members being formed integral with one another, a metal,

strip bent into serpentine shape interposed between the hub sections of the dished sheet metal members, means for clamping the hub section to said serpentine spacer, an annular spacer interposed between the telly sections of the sheet metal members and means for clamping the felly sections to said annular spacer so as to form a wheel rim.

3. A vehicle wheel of the class described comprising a pair of substantially synnnetrical dished sheet metal halves, each comprising a hub section, a felly section, and a plura ity of spoke sections interposed between the hub and felly sections, the hub, felly,

and spoke sections of each half being formed integralwith one another, an annular spacer of substantially U shape in cross section disposed between the felly sections with the legs of the U abuttin against the adjacent faces of the felly sections, and that portion of the U extending between the legs thereof lying at the periphery of the wheel and constituting the cylindrical wheel periphery, a rim band substantially L shape in cross section disposedaround the periphery of the wheel with one arm of the L lying at one side of the felly, and clamping bolts extend ing through the rim band, felly sections, and the parallel legs of the spacer.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 19th day of February, A. D., 1914.

LEON C. SCHWAB.

Witnesses:

-J. J. STAMM, R. STANLEY SMITH. 

